


Pieces of Portia

by pennylaneworks



Category: My Time At Portia (Video Game)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-27 16:22:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20048995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pennylaneworks/pseuds/pennylaneworks





	Pieces of Portia

Elsie opened her mailbox, hoping for good news from the Research Center. She really needed to do something about the panbat infestation up at the tree farm. She knew Petra had her work cut out for her, as Aadit was adamant about not harming the panbats. The Civil Corps had been stumped about a way to solve the problem, since they met nearly all of their problems with brute force. They weren't the type to play around.

It had been Merlin's idea to use loud noise to combat the epidemic, saying that the panbats were sensitive to sound. The two women had taken all the data discs Elsie had given them and gotten straight to work. As usual, the ladies didn't disappoint. Elsie smiled as she pulled the two sets of blueprints out of the envelope, looking them over.

The loudspeaker seemed a bit crude. She didn't know what kind of reaction the panbats would have to the loud, screeching sound that Merlin said it would make. Besides, she had recently discovered some old cassette tapes while digging around in abandoned ruins two and had been itching to see if they still worked. So, boombox it was.

Lost in her thoughts as she was, she nearly jumped when Emily approached her, giving her usual morning greeting and offering her some freshly laid eggs in exchange for apples and apricots from Elsie's fruit trees. It was something Elsie and Emily did nearly every morning. Sometimes Emily would bring breakfast and the girls would lean against the worktable for a chat. 

"Hey Els," Emily said cheerfully. "I've got some egg sandwiches today."

Elsie smiled and looked up from her blueprints. Her stomach rumbled. "Right on time, Em! Oh, here, I made apple juice. Freshly picked apples this morning." She pointed to a basket on the grass next to her gate. "Those are for you and Granny."

"Thanks," Emily said, trading Elsie a sandwich for a jar of apple juice. She looked down at the blueprints Elsie had spread out on the work table. "Is that for the tree farm?"

Elsie unwrapped her sandwich and took a bite. "Mhm. Man, this is good."

Emily smiled and clinked her apple juice jar against Elsie's, taking a long drink. "It'll be great getting the tree farm up and running again. Poor Aadit and Dawa. They've lost a lot of sleep over this."

Elsie nodded. "Hopefully I'll have this all worked out by the weekend."

Emily's response was cut off by the sound of approaching footsteps. Both girls looked up. 

Paulie went sprinting past the workshop, looking over his shoulder and laughing. "Come on, guys, pump those legs!" Remington and Arlo were the next two to pass by, each one giving the girls a wave, keeping up a steady pace. "Ten gols says I overtake him before we get to the river," Arlo said, kicking up dirt as he left Remington behind. 

Remington laughed but kept his pace. It was all about endurance, less about speed. 

Sam was the last one to pass, catching Elsie's eye and holding her hand up in the air. Elsie grinned and tossed her a container of dried apple slices. Sam snatched it out of the air and smiled back. "See you later!"

Emily stared after them, noticing how the early morning sun glinted off of Remington's bright green hair. "You know, I always wondered what color Remington had actually wanted Sanwa to dye his hair. He couldn't have wanted it to be so green..."

Elsie laughed. "No way! Remember how distraught Sanwa was after he realized he made a mistake? Poor Sanwa." Elsie finished off her sandwich. "I do wonder if Remington has grown accustomed to it since he hasn't tried to dye it again. It'd be safe, now that I found those special lenses in the abandoned ruins last month. His barber shop has been back up and running for a couple weeks now."

"I dunno, I kind of like it. I can't even remember what color it was before. It would be weird to see it as any other color," Emily said, tipping her head back and finishing off her apple juice. "Well, I better head into town. Granny asked me to place and order with Martha, she's been craving fruit tarts lately. See you later!" 

Elsie gave her a quick hug. "See you!" she watched Emily pick up the fruit basket and start walking up the road into town before returning her focus back to the blueprints. It was time to get busy.

\----

The sudden silence behind Elsie told her that the bronze plates were done. She continued digging through her storage chest. She was certain she had collected two silicon chips on her last run through the Hazardous Ruins, but where were they?

Her workshop gate creaked open. "Els?" 

Elsie shood up and stretched, smiling as she turned towards Sam, who was just stepping through the gate and walking across the yard to her. "Hey, Sam. Did you get the blue leather?"

Sam rolled her eyes and made a face. "Would I be here if I didn't?"

Elsie's smile turned into a laugh as Sam pulled a package out of her satchel and held it out to her. "You're the absolute best, Sam!"

Sam shrugged. "Just doing my job."

Elsie placed the blue leather on the worktable and went back to looking for the silicon chips. "Job or not, you're still the best. I mean it."

Sam rolled her eyes again, grinning at her friend. "So how's it going?"

"Ha! I found them!" Elsie gave a triumphant cheer. "Right in front of my face!" she held up the chips. "Oh, and things are going better now that I have everything I need to finish the boombox. I should be ready to test it out at the tree farm tomorrow morning."

"Nice, I know Aadit will be happy. Poor guy, he's just been wandering around town ever since the panbats took over. Yesterday I caught Dawa trying to shoo them off with an umbrella," Sam said, digging the doe of her shoe in the grass at her feet.

Elsie raised her eyebrows at Sam. "Did it work?"

"Not even close!" Sam said, barely holding back a laugh. "A panbat snatched it from him and stuck it in a tree!"

Both girls were laughing now. It was all Elsie could to to keep hold of the bronze plates she was carrying over to the assembly station. Sam hurried over to help, barely making it in time to catch two of the plates before they hit the ground.

Elsie took a deep breath. "Oh man. I know I shouldn't be laughing, but it's so funny. Poor Dawa. Maybe I should try and bring this over tonight?"

\----

The sun had set a few hours ago, and Elsie couldn't help but gaze up at the stars as she walked up the path that led to the tree farm. She hope d Aadit or Dawa would still be awake. She knew Aadit liked to turn in early, but didn't know about Dawa. Up ahead, Remington led his horse out from behind some trees and onto the trail Elsie was on. He nodded down at her and she waved back. "Are you finished patrolling for the night?"

"Just about. You on the way to the tree farm?"

Elsie nodded, holding up the boombox. "I'm gonna see if this works against the panbats."

"Mind if I join you? I'm curious to see how this turns out."

Elsie smiled up at Remington, who dismounted and gave his horse the command to go home without him. He took the boombox from Elsie and fell into step beside her.

"It's a nice night. Stars are really standing out," Elsie said, turning her gaze to the sky again. Remington hummed in agreement next to her.

They walked the rest of the way to the tree farm in a comfortable silence. Remington gently pushed on the gate and it swung open slowly. 

Aadit was leaning against the house he shared with Dawa, looking out at the dying trees. His heart ached for the farm. Would there be no chance of saving it? Twigs snapping behind him shook him out of his thoughts and he turned around to see Remington and Elsie approaching. His spirits lifted as he saw what Remington was carrying. "Hey, Dawa! Come on out. Elsie is here."

"Huh?" Dawa poked his head out of the front door. "Oh, is that the boombox? Do you think it'll work?"

Remington set the boombox down on the grass. "Suppose we'll find out soon enough."

"I'm a little afraid about using relics." Aadit said with a small frown. "The church..."

Dawa shushed him excitedly as Elsie crouched down and put a cassette tape into the boombox. "You're afraid of everything, Aadit. You said it yourself, we've tried everything else. What other choice do we have?"

With a nod from Dawa, Elsie clicked on the boombox. Slow, peaceful music drifted out across the tree farm. The panbats slowed down their frantic flying and settled down in the trees, falling asleep.

"Hey, it worked!" Elsie stood up with a cheer, looking up at Remington. She reached out, giving him a hug. "We did it!"

Remington paused for a moment, then hugged her back, ruffling her hair in the process. "Nicely done."

"They almost seem peaceful. Maybe we ought to order a few more from you." Aadit crossed his arms and leaned back against the side of his house. 

Elsie looked around the tree farm, finally seeing the damages done by the panbats. She caught Aadit's eye and knew they were thinking the same thing. 

"We need a way to restore the trees. Are you up for the job?" he asked her.

Elsie smiled. "Sure. I'll go the the research center in the morning and talk to Petra and Merlin, see if they come up with anything. In the meantime, I'll leave the boombox here in case you need to use it again."

Aadit thanked her again, and Dawa handed her a bag of gols. "Here's your commission fee. You really saved us. Thank you so much."

Elsie took the bag and said good night, watching them walk up the steps to their house. She looked up at Remington and realized they still had their arms around each other. 

Remington smiled down at her, releasing her from the hug and stepping back from her. "Come on, Elsie. I'll walk you home."

Elsie returned the smile, and when Remington held his hand out to her, she took it, allowing him to lead the way back out through the tree farm gates and onto the path leading back towards town. They walked quite a way in a comfortable silence, Elsie turning her attention to the sky, admiring how clear the night sky was.

"Hey," Remington said, getting Elsie's attention. "I'm glad you were able to make the tree farm safe again, without using lethal force."

Elsie squeezed Remington's hand. "Me too." 

They stopped walking when they reached the gate to Elsie's workshop. "Thanks for coming with me, Rem."

Remington gave her an easy smile. "I wouldn't have wanted to miss it. It's always interesting, seeing how the builders work."

Elsie stretched up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. "Night, Remy."

Remington stepped back slowly and watched her walk through the gate and up to her door before turning to walk into town.

He slid his hands into his pockets and looked up at the sky.

It really was a nice night.


End file.
